Why Your Frozen Fish Got Mushy

You might think of frozen fish as inferior to fresh if your experiences have only turned out mushy. However, in a study published by Ecotrust in 2017, flash-frozen rated higher in quality than most fresh fish in a blind sensory test. Plus, freezing is a method of preservation, so you still get all of the nutritional value. If that's the case, why does frozen fish get mushy? Daily Meal turned to Kenny Leung, executive chef at YAO NYC, who explains, "The longer it is frozen, the higher chance of the meat becoming mushy. The fish can get mushy, since the muscles and fibers break up after time in the freezer."

As cell membranes break down, conductive fluids build up in the flesh. The lack of intact membranes (which make fresh fish firm) and additional moisture create the mushier texture. How fast this deterioration happens in frozen fish, though, depends on several factors, starting with the freezing rate. In fact, the cooling rate during freezing affects meats of all kinds. Flash-freezing is a quick process that creates tiny ice crystals in the flesh. The slower the freezing process, the bigger the ice crystals become; as a result, more cell membranes rupture, so more fluid is released during thawing.

Additionally, temperature fluctuations during transport from the initial freezing stage to your freezer have an impact on how quickly the fish will degrade, as do the freeze-thaw cycles of freezers. Plus, alongside changed texture of the flesh, rancid flavors can also develop over time with fat oxidation. There's a higher chance of this happening in species with high fat content, which is why some fish are better than others to buy frozen. Even poor packaging can have a negative impact on the texture of frozen fish, since it exposes the food to the elements.

While one of the best ways to avoid mushy fish is to purchase it fresh instead of frozen, there's still a chance that the fresh kind you buy was frozen first then thawed at the store. In that case, you should cook the fish within the day rather than refreeze it, which can degrade the quality. If you don't plan to cook it soon, though, getting already-frozen fish is the better option to reduce the chances of large ice crystals forming and accelerating the deterioration process. From there, it's best to cook fatty fish like salmon within three or four months and lean fish within six to eight months.

Also, you want to avoid mistakes when thawing frozen fish to maintain food safety and texture. It's essential to remove the fish from vacuum-sealed packaging before thawing to reduce the risk of illness from any pathogenic bacteria that may have survived. Then, the best way to defrost frozen fish is to put it in the refrigerator overnight on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath, and cover the entire rack and pan with a layer of plastic. Chef Kenny Leung notes, "The longer it stays in the fridge, the more dehydrated it becomes," so you don't want to refrigerate it for much longer than that. If you're in a hurry, seal the frozen fish in a plastic bag, and submerge the bag in cold water, changing out the water as necessary until it's thawed.

On top of that, one of the best ways to make your fish taste better while avoiding a mushy texture is to pat it dry with paper towels before cooking. Doing so removes the excess moisture that creates more of a steam than a sear, ultimately reducing the mushiness.